Intentions to Marry, 1895 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840408, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, June 11 2025

1895 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 124

District of Hawera Quarter ending 30 September 1895 Registrar Sydney Henry James

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

15 July 1895

Francis William Solomon
Margaret King Crosby

Francis William Falconer
Margaret Penny
💍 1895/1824

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager

22
22

Manaia
Eltham

12 months
12 years

at John Henry

95/3013

15 July 1895

Rev. M. McDonald, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	15 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Solomon	Margaret King Crosby
BDM Match (65%)	Francis William Falconer	Margaret Penny
	💍 1895/1824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Eltham
Length of Residence	12 months	12 years
Marriage Place	at John Henry
Folio	95/3013
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. McDonald, Presbyterian

20 July 1895

Denis O'Mahony
Kate Leahy

Denis OMahony
Kate Leahy
💍 1895/1537

Widower
Widow

Farmer

42
30

Stratford
Stratford

12 months
4 years

In the Roman Catholic Church at Stratford

95/2908

20 July 1895

Rev. Fr. McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	16
Date of Notice	20 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis O'Mahony	Kate Leahy
BDM Match (96%)	Denis OMahony	Kate Leahy
	💍 1895/1537
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	30
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	12 months	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church at Stratford
Folio	95/2908
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Fr. McKenna, Roman Catholic

22 July 1895

Frank Whiting
Maggie Wise

Frank Whiting
Maggie Wise
💍 1895/3851

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
21

Hawera
Stratford

14 years
1 month

Residence of Frank Johnson, Hawera

95/2345

22 July 1895

Rev. Alex English, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	22 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Whiting	Maggie Wise
	💍 1895/3851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hawera	Stratford
Length of Residence	14 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Residence of Frank Johnson, Hawera
Folio	95/2345
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex English, Church of England

1 August 1895

Herbert Henry Johnston
Louisa Nuttall

Herbert Henry Johnston
Louisa Nuttall
💍 1895/1057

Bachelor
Spinster

Stables

28
22

Tariki
Stratford

6 months
2 years

In the Wesleyan Church at Stratford

95/2342

1 August 1895

Rev. H. Bellhouse, Wesleyan

No	18
Date of Notice	1 August 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Johnston	Louisa Nuttall
	💍 1895/1057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stables
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Tariki	Stratford
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church at Stratford
Folio	95/2342
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Bellhouse, Wesleyan

1 August 1895

John Main
Emily Butler

John Moir
Emily Butler
💍 1895/1039

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller

28
21

Eltham
Eltham

9 years
11 years

Residence of Mr. J. W. Hayward, Eltham

95/2344

1 August 1895

Rev. J. W. Hayward, Primitive Methodist

No	19
Date of Notice	1 August 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Main	Emily Butler
BDM Match (89%)	John Moir	Emily Butler
	💍 1895/1039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Eltham
Length of Residence	9 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. W. Hayward, Eltham
Folio	95/2344
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Hayward, Primitive Methodist

23 August 1895

John Fraser
Wilhelmina Dingwall Brown

John Fraser
Wilhelmina Dingwall Brown
💍 1895/1056

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

30
27

Stratford
Ngaire

3 years
12 years

Residence of Mr. B. Hutson, Ngaire

95/2341

23 August 1895

Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

No	20
Date of Notice	23 August 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fraser	Wilhelmina Dingwall Brown
	💍 1895/1056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Ngaire
Length of Residence	3 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. B. Hutson, Ngaire
Folio	95/2341
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

5 September 1895

Edmund George Jones
Mary Robertson

Edmund George Jones
Mary Robertson
💍 1895/1038

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
24

Eltham
Eltham

2 years
12 months

Residence of Mr. H. Bellhouse, Eltham

95/2343

5 September 1895

Rev. H. Bellhouse, Wesleyan

No	21
Date of Notice	5 September 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund George Jones	Mary Robertson
	💍 1895/1038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Eltham
Length of Residence	2 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. H. Bellhouse, Eltham
Folio	95/2343
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Bellhouse, Wesleyan

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).